In Memory of John Singleton on His Birthday

January 6th is writer-director <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Singleton" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">John Singleton</a>’s 56th birthday, or it would’ve been had he not tragically died far too young five years ago. I want to use this moment to share some thoughts about the impact of his work on me and others. Singleton’s debut film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyz_n_the_Hood" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Boyz N the Hood</a> was released in 1991, but I didn’t see it until early ’92 after it landed on VHS. I was in high school at the time, only fifteen years old, and I think it would be fair to say all 112 minutes of it blew up my consciousness with something like nuclear force. The film itself is raw and revelatory and so brilliant Singleton was nominated for both Best Screenplay and Best Director at the Academy Awards. It was also significant — at least for me — because it was the first time this Michigan-born white boy had seen a film about Black people. Not starring Black people (plenty of examples of this). Not featuring Black leads who struggle with racism, or exist to service white people’s stories, or are there to make white people feel better about their own racism (such as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Glory, or Driving Miss Daisy). <a href="https://fanfare.pub/in-memory-of-john-singleton-on-his-birthday-7fc00186f895">Click Here</a>